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Home / Code Guides / Stucco Weep Screed

Stucco Weep Screed Requirements — Placement and Clearances

Stucco absorbs water and has to be able to let it back out at the bottom of the wall. The weep screed is that exit — a small piece of metal that decides whether the base of your framing stays dry.

RequirementModel Code StandardSection
Screed requiredA corrosion-resistant weep screed is required at or below the foundation plate line on exterior stud walls receiving cement plasterIRC R703.7.2.1
Material and flangeMinimum 0.019 in. thick (No. 26 galvanized sheet gage) with a vertical attachment flange of not less than 3-1/2 in.IRC R703.7.2.1
Clearance to gradeThe screed is placed a minimum of 4 in. above the earth or 2 in. above paved areasIRC R703.7.2.1
Barrier lapThe water-resistive barrier and lath lap the attachment flange of the screed, so water running down the drainage plane is delivered onto the screed and out of the wallIRC R703.7.2.1
Two barrier layersCement plaster over wood-based sheathing requires two layers of water-resistive barrier — the sacrificial inner layer is what keeps the plaster from bonding through to the sheathingIRC R703.7.3
Plaster thicknessThree-coat cement plaster over metal lath on frame walls is applied to a nominal 7/8 in. total thicknessIRC R703.7.1, Table R702.1(1)
Lath and fasteningLath and its fasteners are corrosion-resistant, attached through the barriers into framing, and lapped at all lath edgesIRC R703.7.1, R703.7.2

Worth knowing

  • The most common failure is grade, not workmanship — a correctly installed screed gets buried later by a new patio, a planter bed, or a landscaper adding 3 in. of soil. Once the screed is buried, the wall wicks.
  • Stucco carried down past the screed and troweled tight to the foundation seals the exit shut and produces the same rot as burying it.
  • Weep screed handles the bottom of the wall; casing beads, control joints, and drip screeds handle openings, plane changes, and horizontal terminations above it.
  • Hold 2 in. of clearance where stucco meets a roof surface below, and use a kick-out flashing where a roof edge runs into a stucco wall — that intersection soaks walls faster than anything else on the elevation.
  • One-coat and synthetic systems are proprietary: they are approved through evaluation reports with their own details, which can be stricter than the prescriptive IRC rules.
Sections cite the 2021 International Residential Code and 2023 National Electrical Code as model standards. This is BuildSpec’s own summary — not ICC or NFPA text; read the authoritative language at codes.iccsafe.org. Your state may be on a different edition with amendments — check your jurisdiction page or get an Address Report.
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